VPX Booth at NPC Nationals!

Hey everybody, I'll be working the VPX Booth at NPC Nationals in Ft. Lauderdale (Hollywood), FL this Friday and Saturday. Stop by, get some free samples and say hi! Make sure you have your Redline energy drink to get you through the long day! :)

Off-Season Training Update

Training at my gym, Gold's Gym Dr. Phillips, Orlando, FL

My off-season training is going great, and has been really productive! I'm up almost 20 lbs since my pro debut at the Orlando Europa in mid-April, and I feel great. It's been a gradual weight increase, in order to keep it very solid. I never gained more than a 1lb a week, and some weeks my weight held steady. I'm stronger than ever and eating a lot of clean food - 6 - 7 meals a day, about 2700 calories worth each day (about 350 grams of carbs a day! Woohoo!). I have my weekly cheat meal on the weekends, and pancakes w/regular syrup one morning mid-week with my egg whites, so no, I am not deprived at all LOL My goal this off-season has been to bring up my shoulders, legs and BACK...wait, that sounds like my whole body! :) It's working though; I keep getting told I look a lot more shapely and full and round through my muscle bellies - yay! Still getting there though ;) I'm training legs 2x a week, back 2x a week, and lots of volume on shoulder days. I'm weight training 5-6 times a week, doing 30 minutes of cardio 3-5 times a week, mostly on the spin bike and some step mill - all steady state, keeping my HR around 145 bpm.

I miss not being on stage this fall, but I had some gaps to fill in on my physique. I've always been an athlete and a competitor, so I really don't ever want to step on stage not feeling like I could be ranked in the top 5. I do love competing, and there are so many fun aspects of competing, but I want to be at my very best the next time I hit the stage. Come January, we'll make the decision as to where I will begin my 2010 season. Can't wait!!

Olympia 2009

Working the VPX booth with an awesome group of ladies!
My girl, Krissy, and I at the expo

Adrien, Nicole, Kristin Nunn and myself at the ever crowded VPX booth!

My man stopping by to see me :)

Nicole and Jack Owoc - Owner of VPX

Camila Rodriguez - New IFBB Fitness Pro

At dinner Saturday night with IFBB Figure Pros Krissy Chin and Meriza DeGuzman

Jason and I headed to the finals then to the Weider after-party at MIX

Awesome view from MIX

Cat Holland at the VPX Booth!

I will be working at the VPX booth this next weekend at the Olympia in Vegas, Sept. 24-25th. Stop by and say hi if you are attending the expo!

Big Updates for Catherinefitness.com!

Well into my off-season prep (taken September 16th)! Loving my training!

Lots of updates to make! The past few weeks, I have been making some updates to my website, www.catherinefitness.com. Make sure visit and enter in your email address for a FREE weekly picture! Also, it is now only $2.95 to join my website! I am bringing back the weekly chat feature to my website, now that I have a better internet provider! This will be a great opportunity to interact with me LIVE each week!

A little training update - it's going awesome! Stronger than ever and loving my diet and workouts. To see more of my training - videos and journal - become a member of my website for a low low price! You can also ask me any questions related to training, lifts/exericses, diet or whatever else you have on your mind, on the message board of my website. Another great place for personalized interaction!

I will be holding off on competing until 2010. The plan as of a month ago was to compete at the Sacramento Pro, November 7th. However, with my off-season training going so well, I have decided to continue reconstructing my physique in order to be at my best the next time I hit the stage. The first of January, the decision for which show I will start at will be determined.

August Show Appearances

Tana Gabrielle and I working the Bodybuilding.com booth at the Tamp Pro show...giving Bob a lil feel - LOL

The first weekend in August we drove the 1.5 hours up to Jacksonville for Dexter Jackson's, Jacksonville Pro Show, and to cheer on our fitness friends that were competing. Congrats to Jess, Erin and Jenny for your O qualifications! And...I just have to say congrats to my friend, Krissy Chin, for placing 2nd at the Europa last weekend as well as Meriza DeGuzman for getting her O qualification! ....The following weekend was spent at Tim Gardner's Tampa Pro show, where I worked for bodybuilding.com! This was a very fun weekend. Not only did I get to represent a top notch company, but our little booth crew was awesome. Tana Gabrielle was awesome to work with and made the two days just fly by! It's no wonder this pretty little fitness model is so loved in the fitness industry :) A down to earth and FUNNY sweetheart!! ....Tomorrow we will be at Deke Warner's Florida State show here in Orlando, cheering on some of our friends from the gym!

USA's Weekend/ Jacksonville Pro

Terri and I working the MRI booth together July 24-25th. Such a fun weekend! Crazy busy, but fun!
Congratulations to our client Ryan Everson!! Ryan placed 3rd in Class D.

Ryan is the Amateur Fitness Competitor of the Week on Bodybuilding.com: http://www.bodybuilders.com/fitness.htm

Pam and Casey getting ready to hit the stage!

Terri, Krissy and me...our booths were right next to one another! How lucky were we??

Phil Heath, guest posing w/Troy Alves, Ronnie Coleman, Jay Cutler, and Dexter Jackson at the Jacksonville Pro August 1st. Most of these guys are 8 weeks out of the Olympia! (cameral phone pic!)

Jason and Phil talking diet and nutrition (camera phone pic! haha)

Jenny Lynn and me at the Jacksonville Pro (camera phone pic too - sorry!)

*More Pics from Jacksonville coming soon!*

My Vacation to Hawaii

Jason and I at Ko Olina, Oahu...just before heading down to Waikiki for some shopping and dinner!
The North Shore after parasailing

Look how high up we are! The view was amazing!! Mountains and crystal clear water with an on-going shore line...didn't want to come down!

No hands! We're flying!! ...Sorta!

Isn't this one of the coolest trees you've ever seen?? I go crazy over the birds and the trees! So many cool looking trees in Hawaii

Golfing at Ko Olina golf course - Michelle Wie's home golf course. I sat this round out...it's really really hard and I'm really not that good. I saved everyone the misery. I did play at Makaha and only picked up my ball a few times! LOL But hey, I can crush it off the tee...that is, when I make a good connection...

Black Swans!! They were all over this picturesque golf course

Can you tell he played on the pro golf tour? He hasn't played for a year, then came out and shot 77 for 18 holes....and he "played terribly"...riiiiiiiiiight, babe!!!!

This was the view from our lanai. Ate breakfast every morning with this amazing view...the sunsets were breathtaking

This is one of the pools, viewed from our lanai

One of the very few times we "layed out" by the pool. Niether of us are very good at this! Too ADD! LOL I prefered swimming in the lagoons, but the pool was pretty nice too.

The only pictures I didn't get, (but I have someone sending me some that was with us) are of the dolphins that swam RIGHT up next to our little skimmer boat that shuttled us out to the parasailing boat. They were almost close enough to touch as they would jump out of the water right next to us and smack it with their nose. There were at least 12 of them swimming alongside of the boat. It was a truly amazing experience, and it gave me chills watching such a beautiful and wonderous site!!

It was a long, 10 hour flight to Honolulu, but it was SO worth it! The trip was soley for vacation, no work, no shows, just vacation! - something J and I haven't done in well over a year. We easily could have stayed another week. So sad to leave :( But it was a wonderful time to decompress, relax, enjoy life and in so doing we came home so refreshed and renewed! There is no place like Hawaii!

Jr. Nationals Weekend in Chicago

Go Terri, Go Terri! Terri won Class D and the Overall - yay!!!! You like her suit?? ;) It has winning vibes all over it now! My shirt is from Ana Tigre's new clothing line - so many cute ones to choose from!!
You can kinda see the massive carrot cake Ana Tigre had waiting for us all after the show...you can't see the massive deep dish pizza we tore into after the show. You'd think I had been competing or something...SUCH a fun night!!

Good job to our client Ryan Everson!! She placed 12th in class D at her second ever national show. Ryan has made a huge transformation since working with us beginning in May of 2008. She will be going onto the USA's in 4.5 weeks!

Ryan, getting her sexy hair all done up for the show :)

Good job to our client Becky Youngberg! She has made AMAZING improvements to her physique over the past 6 months she has been with us. She is a tall class girl, hard worker and one of the sweetest people I know. Becky will also be in Vegas for the USA's.

I love Jr. Nationals in Chicago; I always have! The venue is awesome, and it's Chicago. Almost everyone from the industry is bound to be there, and the competitor showing is always huge. Just a fun, fun show to be at! My first ever national show took place here in 2006, where I placed 9th. 2007, I placed 12th, and the next year I got my pro card :) No matter what my placing was the 3 seasons I competed nationally, I always had a blast in Chicago. Maybe it was the convenient venue itself, maybe it's because it was my first national show ever, or maybe it's the amazing pizza...I think it's a combination of everything. Whatever the case, it will forever hold a special place in my heart! Congratulations Terri!! You did it! You worked your butt off for this, and I admire your perseverance and work ethic. You deserve everything good! I love you girl! Check out Terri in this month's issue of Flex Magazine - HOT!!!

We returned home Sunday night to 92 degree weather...our boot camp ladies love us even more right now..hahahaha, riiiiight :)

Training and Eating in Jacksonville!

Dolores and I at Maggiano's...love this girl!
Mmmmmm! 3 appetizers to start: mozzarella, flatbread pizza, and fried zucchini! Only thing we are missing are the Goat Balls!! LOL

3 weeks into my off-season

I just got back from a great weekend training in Jacksonville with my friend Dolores. This girl has one of the biggest hearts and a true passion for fitness and going hard in the gym. The 3 of us had planned a little fitness weekend for a couple months now, which proved to be a lot of fun and definitely something to repeat soon! Friday we did a little cardio, Saturday morning I took some progress pictures. This is something I will continue to do periodically so you can see how I am progressing. I've changed up my diet and cardio and lifting protocol quite a bit, so it will be interesting to see how I respond. That morning went to the gym and trained shoulders, then did a boot camp workout for cardio, and then arms later. Saturday night we went to dinner at Maggiano's for our cheat meal and got the works!! Since D-lo is a manager, we got the whole thing free...nice hook-up I know ;) 3 appetizers, followed by chicken parmesean for J and I ! Dolores was a good girl and only ate a salad :( Later, J and I hit up Cheesecake Factory for our slice of Adam's Peanut Butter Cup Fudge Ripple...SO good!! Yeah, we were pretty carb-coma'd after that and slept very nicely. We decided to take Sunday off, since all of us seemed to need rest - good to listen to your body!! Once we got home this afternoon I did my sprints and once again am ready to fall asleep....I will be headed to Chicago to watch Jr. Nationals this Thursday through Sunday - say hi if you see me walking around!

One last thing! Make sure to check out a picture from my photo shoot with Terry Goodlad on http://www.bodysport.com/ under, "What's New" :)

Photo Shoot Updates!!

Redondo Beach Shoot for NPC NEWS Magazine May 24th (L-R: Kristin Nunn, Krissy Chin, Meriza DeGuzman, Amy O'Neil, Sonia Adcock, and Me) Pics below were taken by J.M. Manion at his studio in March....

Oh how I love photo shoots! It's my fun-time playing actress in front of the camera lense, lol! I just got my CD back from J.M. this weekend at the Cal of the photo shoot we did in March at his studio. Holy cow we got A LOT of pictures!! Great content for my site. I've posted a few pics from each gallery of outfits. Thanks J.M.!

I also posted a picture from the beach shoot I did with 5 other Pro Figure ladies after the Cal last weekend. THIS was a BLAST! We all met at the host hotel and car pooled in a couple cars to the shoot location behind John Tuman's beach house at Redondo Beach. J.M. did individual and group shots of us, and each of us got a chance to get some outstanding shots with Terry Goodlad. He had me in the freakn' cold ocean, but man it was worth it! Those shots turned out awesome! A lot of laughs and good times during that whole shoot. We had a whole bunch of onlookers parked in their beach chairs, cracking open some brewskies and firing up the grill as we provided them plenty of entertainment LOL! We had some great girl-bonding time over chocolate-peanut rice cakes with more peanut butter spread on top. Mmmm, peanut butter...a Figure Girl's favorite :) After the shoot it was off to Rocky Cola Cafe for a late lunch. Almost our whole table ordered Blueberry Buckwheat Pancakes - so freakn' gooooood! Krissy and I ordered sweet potato fries as well - AMAZING. I proceeded to dump water all over her and then finished off her food that she didn't eat....I love Krissy :) The whole day was so much fun, and I'm grateful I got to be a part of it!

Tuesday I had a shoot with Muscle & Fitness Hers Magazine! The shoot took place at a kickboxing gym in Pasadena. This was the same gym where Million Dollar Baby was filmed. It was very vintage and old school - a beautiful facility. I shot with Corey Sorenson in the personal training studio attached to the side. It was a top notch crew on location and we got through shooting so smoothly. The pictures look awesome and I'm really excited to see the spread when it comes out in the September/October issue. I am so honored to be a part of such a great publication!

That last night in Cali, I ate Chipotle and then we went down to the Firehouse and ate more yummy banana pancakes (I smeared PB and syrup all over them) and a killer egg white omelete. So so good, especially at the end of such a fantastic trip :)